the closureextends of its diplomatic posts and made online chatter about terrorist threats. branches in 19 cities in the muslim world will be shut until the evening of the week. a court in turkey equates 21 suspects in the trial of close to 300 accused of plotting to overthrow the government. others have been given up to 20 years. the verdicts are being handed down in the high-profile case that is seen as a key test for the prime minister. and new zealand dairy company apologizes after contaminated milk powder is shipped to several countries, including russia and china.

u.s. state department says it is keeping several of its embassies and consulates closed until at least the evening of the week. posts in 19 cities across the muslim world remained shut. four african countries have been added to the list, but u.s. has opened post in kabul and baghdad. intelligence reports suggested a major terrorist attack could be on the way. the uk, france, and germany have followed suit, closing their embassies in yemen. this is been called the most serious terrorist threat since 9/11. u.s.common sight outside embassies across the middle east and north africa, doors closed and armed guards manning checkpoints. over 20 embassies and consulates were closed on sunday. he state department announced it would be keeping 19 closed until next saturday as indications of a suspected terrorist attack about it. u.s. intelligence gathered information from what it said

amounted to a credible threat to u.s. embassies. some members of congress say nothing should be left to chance. like there has been an awful lot of chatter. chatter means conversation among terrorists about the planning that is going on, very reminiscent of what we saw pre- 9/11. we did not take heed on 9/11 in the way that we should, but here i think it is very important that we do take the right kind of planning. >> the exact target is unknown, but the country on highest alert is yemen, the base of one of al activeosts most affiliates. france and germany also closed onir embassies in sanaa sunday. >> we received information that high difference from al qaeda and the rio bn peninsula are talking about a major attack on a high level. >> washington has also warned u.s. citizens to check precautions while traveling, while interpol has issued a global alert after a string of

jailbreaks in nine countries, senior al qaeda figures sprung from prison in recent weeks. >> a court in turkey has acquitted 21 suspects in the trial of 275 people accused of plotting to overthrow the government. the ergenekon trial is one of the most profile in the country's history, seem as a key test in the prime minister's showdown. defendants are said to be part of an antigovernment illegal aswork described by critics a state within a state. i am joined by jasper who is outside that prison courthouse outside instanbul. what is the latest? >> the heavyweight names in the trial, many of them have been sentenced now and they have received extremely long sentences. 129 years, and he is quite a popular general.

he was applauded when he walked into the courtroom this morning. a brigadier general who has the ,istory of being involved implicated in standard -- scandals in turkey, he got sentenced to life imprisonment. a leader of the leftist workers former editor in turkey, 117 years. the colonel, 25 years. balbai, 24 years. he was telling the press in the observer gallery about an hour ago while waiting for the judges to take their seats at the verdict would have no effect on the accused. such heavy sentences are likely to provoke a storm of protest from antigovernment quarters in turkey. the question is whether the judges reasoning him a whether the grounds they give for the sentences will impress people or not. >> thanks for that, reporting

from outside instanbul. a new report from human rights watch says the syrian army has killed hundreds of civilians in recent months after firing ballistic missiles into populated areas where it is battling rebels. says.s.-based rates group it has investigated nine apparent missile attacks that killed at least 215 come a half of those children. the most recent attack occurred in aleppo. the king of morocco has revoked a pardon granted to a serial in a file from spain. it sparked angry protests across the kingdom. the man was convicted of raping 11 children and sentenced to 30 years in jail. here are the details. bowing to popular pressure, thecco's king revoking controversial pardon of a spanish pedophile, sparking a spring of protests. demonstrators are clashing with police on friday in a rare show

of defiance towards the monarch. saturday, it was already announced that an investigation into what was called a regrettable release started. beene king had not informed that any time of the nature of the crimes perpetrated by that person nor the atrocity of the monstrous crimes of which he was found guilty. >> the case centers around the grams of the 63-year-old man. in 2011, he was handed a 30-year sentence for the rape of 11 children him is serving eight teen months of that term. he was one of 48 spanish nationals pardoned last week by king mohammed vi, a gesture to mark good relations between spain and morocco in the wake of a recent visit the spanish monarch. -- case striking a chord striking a chord amid growing anger and morocco after four and pedophile cases in recent months. after it was ricin did, it may not change very much.

he is already reported to have left morocco to return to spain. >> nexen day voters in mali will go back to the polls for the second round in the presidential vote, facing a foreigner prime minister. the first-round winner. with the x finance minister. here are the details. the most popular candidate in the first round of li's presidential election, and he wants to keep it that way. >> i am asking you to give me a clean and clear majority. [applause] and in this beautiful majority that will give me the -- and indisputable majority that will give me the strength to be the national recovery that we are all striving for. of the vote, he vanished almost 20 percentage points ahead of the runner-up. ibk has since received the

endorsement from the election's third man, giving him a strong position to win the second round. however, the ex finance minister insists that he is still in the game. >> we're not talking about having to reverse reverse a trend here. ofis not about the result the first round. it is going to be a new election. and twoemaining votes other -- two dozen other candidates, the question is to whom the votes will go and how many malian voters will be motivated to come out to them polls for a second time. turnout for the first was barely over 50%, but that was exceptional in a country where turnout has historically remained alone. -- new zealand apologizing to parents because of a scare over contaminated milk powder. the company revealed it found bacteria and some products that

could cause botulism. china and russia have moved to ban imports of the contaminated products. that could heal a major blow to billion annual9 dairy rate. the prime minister of new zealand was critical of the company. >> when you have a company that is our largest company, our largest brand, our largest exporter, the flagship for new zealand, and your whole business is about food safety and food quality, you would think they would take such a precautionary view to these things and take efforts. for some reason, in an odd way, it is discarded. that is something the chief executive will have to answer one day. >> parents in china are worried about the tainted milk powder. domestic brands are no good. now foreign brands are no good either. i have no idea how to choose.

>> the domestic brands were exposed before. so we bought imported milk powder. now milk powder from new zealand has been sourced. >> my baby has been born and we have been using this brand because we thought it was a good brand. i felt very angry when i saw the news yesterday. this could really hurt my baby. as parents, we want our baby to be healthy. anyforeign products are not good either. >> supporters of former italian prime minister silvio berlusconi held a rally outside his home sunday. he came after the supreme court upheld a tax fraud conviction against the media tycoon. he wasoni told the crowd innocent, slamming the judges who passed this sentence. the conviction means he faces a ban on public office. list of legal woes finally caught up with him.

but silvio berlusconi remains defiant as ever in the face of his conviction for fraud, the first-ever of the many charges against him that stock. >> i say this while looking at each of you into your eyes one by one, and i would say it looking into the eyes of my so- called judges, i am innocent. his supporters are unwavering . thousands gathered in front of his residence on sunday. >> the people from italy are in love with silvio berlusconi. >> berlusconi, who has been on trial a dozen times for charges ranging from tax fraud to having sex with an underage prostitute, has railed against italy's judiciary, ban -- branding them communists. people all over italy took the same line. >> there are so many other felons who are being persecuted. that is perhaps a greater problem than berlusconi.

that is why i am here. >> in protest at the supreme court confirmation of his conviction and four-year sentence, berlusconi's people of freedom partly walks out of parliament friday. it is a fragile ruling coalition. on sunday, berlusconi pledged to support the prime minister, saying the government needed to keep going and take action to bring italy out of recession. being rocked by street protests over muslim argument that could lead to a hardened for the ousted prime minister. as many as 2000 protesters turned out sunday for a peaceful rally in a bangkok park. the more militant protester expected when parliament against the made -- but -- begins debating an amnesty bill. it would cover those that ousted taksin for alleged corruption. let's go get more from bangkok. what is happening there so far

today? >> so far today it is very quiet. but yesterday, several thousand protesters gathered in central bangkok. it was a peaceful protest, but there has been strong reaction from the government. they have invoked the internal security act in a few districts in the center of bangkok, which gives police the authorities to block roads, stop vehicles, and perhaps not any protests that they deem to be getting out of hand. and the real-time when the pressure will come as on wednesday when parliament starts deliberating this amnesty bill, which which is controversial in many ways. the position of what they call them selves the people's army aksim regime, they're looking to push the government to stop pushing this amnesty bill. they would say it will pave the way for taksim's return to the country, a divisive or in thai politics. at the moment, it is quiet. there are a lot of riot police

out there. the internal security act is in place until august 10. we will wait to see until the protests get a little larger on wednesday. >> you said there's nothing really in this bill that would toe the way for taksim return. why are people so up in arms? >> in many ways, it is a continuation of his long -- what the country has been suffering, very divisive country since the coup in 2006 that ousted tak -- that ousted taksim. there were two elections in a .ow the reason they stress that this bill will pave the way for thaks sister.urn is his there is a lot of return. there are also rumors of a2 and rumors swelling around the country this week. evening, then the

leader of the two in 2006 has said that there is no poop. at the moment, we cannot be sure because -- there is no coup. this.nd is no stranger to >> thank you for that. >> welcome to the business interview. today we are looking at the risks of doing business africa. african economies are displaying strong growth rates, providing plenty of opportunities. but let's also look at the potential pitfalls. i have a guest, chief executive d investment, crediting ratings agency based in ivory coast. first of all, when you hear credit ratings agency, released when i hear that word, i think of standard & poor's. i think of moody's. and i think of spinach. you're different from them. tell us us about your business. >> we are based -- we are a

regional credit agency. arehave to know that there 70 other regional other regional credit agencies throughout the world. had thisn why we rating agency is because the international rating agency, fits, movies, and standard & poor's, have a different time in specific markets -- including moody's, and standard & poor's. >> so they give a global picture. >> a global picture when it comes on the rating of foreign currencies of reference, the dollars. when it comes to the local market, they have more difficulties. you have to be close to these markets. you have to be on the ground to be able to better master the investment in these regions. >> these agencies have caught a lot of flak after the financial crisis. how are you doing things differently from them? >> actually, we are in a very

regulated environment. the market authorities have put in place very, very strict regulations to actually make what happens of subprime does not happen in this area. we are controlled by external looks of the adequacy between our methodology and the reports they go out. so the regulation is so strict that it would definitely prevent what happened in the u.s. >> there is a lot of focus on africa and the african growth rate at the moment. so far, these economies have been seen as a little bit of a wild west. thatyour existence mean africa and african economies and african markets are maturing? >> most definitely. not only are they maturing, but

they are starting to understand the importance of the interest banks and the importance of good governance actually. although africa becomes very attractive in terms of investment based on the high return that investment can actually expect from the investment in africa, there is also risk. people want to make sure that, even if the return is high, they want to make sure that they invest where they can mitigate the risks. this is something that has been clearly stated to most borrowers in africa. worke have done a lot of on education. so they do understand that. so now we have a lot of people coming willingly to the credit rating to establish the credit quality. so the markets are definitely maturing. >> so you think the risk levels that come down in the past 10 years or so. havet necessarily they

come down, but we have a better understanding of the risks. what investors want, they do not want to invest in the risk-free zone. they want to know the type of risks they are taking. this is very important. this is what they really want, the reason why when it comes to very specific markets am a they want someone who actually can tell them what type of risks they are taking and what type of return can expect from the investment. this is why they usually start working with local and regional credit rating agencies, rather than the international credit rating agencies. >> what are the main risks of doing business in africa? the continent has 55 different countries, so it is difficult to paint a wider picture, i suppose. but in your view, what are the main risks? >> actually, regulation. we are in the market that is to regulated. they can actually be a breakthrough to investors.

also, the judicial environment. >> the rule of law, basically. >> the rule of law. but a lot of progress has been made in this area. but this still remains the highest risk in the sense that an investor wants to make sure -- they want to be able to have a fair trial. which is not really the case in most countries at the time being. >> do you think that the rule of law is improving? asit is definitely improving the politicians in africa started to understand the importance of creating a conducive business environment so that it can attract foreign capital. private capital, in a sense for the public capital, they do not necessarily need to have a conducive environment for that. but but they realize the importance of private capital. because this private capital is not actually attached with

conditions, they have strategy plans.s of the local so they tend to be more interested in private capital. they understand that private capital will only come if the environment is conducive to business. >> i want to talk a little bit about the investors that look at your ratings. where do they come from? are they african investors or outside investors? >> both type of investors. a mostly come from the region, from the continent, africa, but you have a lot of them coming from europe. also, we have the americans starting to have a good appetite for africa. that thererealized are credit rating agencies on the continent, because there are three of them actually, they are starting to come. so we have been contacted by investors directly or representatives of investors to discuss the rating of sectors. we do sector analysis.

analysis andte financial institutions get we do all five risk categories. so we have been contacted by investors everywhere. internationalre, investors are being very much more interested. about hows much hype china is marching into africa and that it is basically taking over large parts of african business. have you seen proof of that? >> at first it was actually good for africa to diversify from the european and from the western world. but we started to realize that of course business is business. the chinese are coming to invest because they are just because the good samaritans are not coming because they're expecting return on their investment. it allows the africans to have the choice. opportunitylso the to discuss better conditions

with their western counterparts. but these wild investments from china are starting to stabilize. now that we established that africa can actually diversify, the spherers -- now of chinese taking over is actually coming down. >> ok. i want to talk about mitigating risks when doing business in africa. lack oftalk about the rule of law before, how do you mitigate that? how do you get around it and make sure does not impact your business? >> it is the way you interpret the risk. different environments have different cultures. the culture is a very important impact in evaluating risks. obviously, once you have all the parameters that represent the graphic of risk some of then you

actually put in place different elements to mitigate that. but rule of law, for instance, obviously, the contracts can be -- it can be a contract that actually says in case of conflict, we can actually establish our side of the country in a mutual tribunal where he actually have the chance to have a fair trial. there are other parameters that will be on a case-by-case basis, based on who you are doing business with and what the connection is with people in the country. other people politically related and political connections thomas o they can actually have an impact on the islamist relations we are going to have. it is difficult to establish one mainstream attitude to have when it comes to this type of risks.

>> if you have one practical saying youu are should did the exit many baskets, so to speak. >> ash you should put your -- eggs in many baskets. >> this is true. there is the stock market. a company with assets will be everywhere. they do not concentrate assets in the same countries. so they can have assets in europe, the united states, africa, and asia. so they can be taken into court in these other parts of the world where they have assets. obviously, that mitigates the reach for an investor in a particular company or country. if they have decided to use neutral arbitrage when it comes to conflict, then they can also obviously attacked them in other courts outside where they have

the assets and where the rule of law is actually stronger than where they have the initial investment. >> ok, unfortunately we have run out of time. it has been a pleasure speaking